God’s Workmanship cont'd

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh" (Eze_36:25-26). We are not concerned here with the prophetic or dispensational bearing of this statement, but with its doctrinal import. Nor can we here attempt a full exposition of it. In our judgment those verses describe an essential aspect of that "miracle of grace" which God performs in His people. The "clean water" with which He sprinkles and cleanses them within is an emblem of His holy Word, as Joh_15:3, Eph_5:26, make quite clear. The heart of the natural man is likened to one of "stone"—lifeless, insensible, obstinate. When he is regenerated, the heart of man becomes one "of flesh"—quickened into newness of life, warm, full of feeling, capable of receiving impressions from the Spirit. The change effected by regeneration is no superficial or partial one, but a great, vital, transforming, complete one.

"Make the tree good and his fruit good" (Mat_10:32): the Husbandman’s method of accomplishing this is shown in Rom_11:17. "Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Mat_18:3): to "be converted" is to experience a radical change, for pride to be turned into humility, and self-sufficiency into clinging dependence. "Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace" (Joh_1:16): the life of the Head is communicated to His members, and every spiritual grace that is found in Him is, in measure, reproduced in them. "No man can come to Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him" (Joh_6:44): to come to Christ is to receive Him as our Lord and Saviour—to abandon our idols and repudiate our own righteousness, to surrender to His government and trust in His sacrifice; and none can do that except by the power of God. "Purifying their hearts by faith" (Act_15:9, and cf. 1Pe_1:22—"Ye have purified your souls by obeying the Truth"): the Christian does not have two hearts, but one which has been "purified"! "Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken" (Act_16:14): the door of fallen man’s heart is fast closed against God until He opens it.

"I have appeared unto thee for this purpose: to make thee a minister and a witness . . .to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me" (Act_26:18). Here we have still another description of that miracle of grace which God performs within His people and wherein He is pleased to make use of the ministerial instrumentality of His servants. The faithful preaching of His Word is given an important place therein, though that preaching is only rendered effectual by the powerful operations of the Spirit. That miracle is here spoken of as the opening of our eyes, the reference being to the eyes of our understanding, so that we are enabled to perceive something of the spiritual meaning of the Gospel message and its bearing upon our own deep need. The soul which hitherto was engulfed in spiritual darkness is brought forth into God’s marvelous light (1Pe_2:9) so that we now discover the perfect suitability of Christ unto our desperate case. At the same time the soul is delivered from the captivity of Satan, who is "the power of darkness" (Luk_22:53), and brought into a new relation with and knowledge of God, which produces faith in Him and issues in the forgiveness of sins.

Fourth, because God would thereby make it easier for His children to recognize themselves in the mirror of the Word. Possessed of honest hearts and fearful of being deceived, some find it no simple matter to be thoroughly convinced that they have truly experienced the great change. So far from sneering at their trepidation, we admire their caution: where the eternal interests of the soul are concerned only a fool will give himself the benefit of the doubt. But if a miracle of grace has been wrought in the reader, there is no good reason why he should long be in uncertainty about it. As in water face answers to face, so the character of the renewed soul corresponds to the description of such furnished by the Word of Truth. That description, as we have seen, is given with considerable variety, sometimes one feature or aspect being made prominent, sometimes another. It is like a photographer taking a number of different pictures of the same person: one with his countenance in repose, another with him smiling; one a full-face view, another of his profile. One may appear to do him "more justice" than another or be more easily "recognized," yet all are likenesses of himself.

Let then the exercised reader impartially scrutinize himself in the mirror of the Word and see if he can discern in himself some of the marks of the regenerate, as those marks are there delineated. Observe well we say "some of" those marks, and not all of them. Though you may not be sure that Eze_36:26 has taken place in you, perhaps you know something of what is recorded in Act_16:14, and Rom_5:5. Because your first conscious "experience" was not like that of Romans 7:9, perhaps it closely resembled that of Zaccheus, who came down from the tree and "received Him joyfully" (Luk_19:6). Commenting on the quickness of his conversion, Whitefield aptly said to those who queried whether any were genuine Christians who had not undergone some "terrible experience" of conviction or terror of the wrath to come, "You may as well say to your neighbor you have not had a child, for you were not in labour all night. The question is, whether a real child is born, not how long was the preceding pain"!

There is nothing in the sacred record to show that either Lydia or Zaccheus felt anything of the terrors of the Law before their conversion, yet from what is said of them in the sequel we cannot doubt the reality of their conversion. Though you may not be sure whether God has put His laws into your mind and written them on your heart, yet you should have no difficulty in perceiving whether or no you "love the brethren" as such, and if you do, then you may be fully assured on the Word of Him that cannot lie, you have "passed from death unto life." The fact that you are afraid to aver that God has renewed you after His image and created you "in righteousness and true holiness" does not of itself warrant you inferring you are still in a state of nature. Test yourself by other passages and see if you can discern in your soul some of their marks of regeneration, such as a grieving over sin, a hungering after righteousness, a panting for communion with God, a praying for fuller conformity unto Christ. Has the world lost its charm, are you out of love with yourself, is the Lamb of God a desirable Object in your eyes? If so, you possess at least some of the distinctive marks of the regenerate.

Reversal of the Fall

Since we are seeking to write this for the benefit of young preachers as well as the rank and file of God’s people, let us point out that the nature of this great change may also be determined by contemplating it as the begun reversal of the Fall: "begun reversal," for what is commenced at regeneration is continued throughout our sanctification and completed only at our glorification. While it be true that those who are renewed by the Holy Spirit gain more than Adam lost by the Fall, yet we have clear Scripture warrant for affirming that the workmanship of the new creation is God’s answer to man’s ruination of his original creation. Great care needs to be taken in cleaving closely to the Scriptures in developing this point, particularly in ascertaining exactly what was the moral and spiritual condition of man originally, and precisely what happened to him when he fell. We trust that a patient perusal of what follows will convince the reader of both the importance and value of our discussion of these details at this stage the more so since the children have sadly departed from the teaching of the fathers thereon.

Even those sections of Christendom which boast the most of their soundness in the Faith are defective here. Mr. Darby and his followers hold that Adam was merely created innocent (a negative state), and not in (positive) holiness. Mr. Philpot said, "I do not believe that Adam was a spiritual man, that is, that he possessed those spiritual gifts and graces which are bestowed upon the elect of God, for they are new covenant blessings in which he had no share" (Gospel Standard, 1861, page 155). One error ever involves another. Those who deny that fallen man possesses any responsibility to perform spiritual acts (love God, savingly believe in Christ) must, to be consistent, deny that unfallen man was a spiritual creature. Different far was the teaching of the Reformers and Puritans. "And where Paul treats of the restoration of this image (2Co_3:18), we may readily infer from his words that man was conformed to God not by an influx of His substance, but by the grace and power of His Spirit." And again, "As the spiritual life of Adam consisted in a union to his Maker, so an. alienation from Him was the death of his soul" (Calvin, Institutes).

"Adam had the Spirit as well as we: the Holy Spirit was at the making of him and wrote the image of God upon his heart, for where holiness was, we may be sure the Spirit of God was too . . .the same Spirit was in Adam’s heart to assist his graces and cause them to flow and bring forth, and to move him to live according to those principles of life given him" (Goodwin, 6/54). And again, commenting on Adam’s being made in the image and likeness of God, and pointing out that such an "image" imports a thing "permanent and inherent," he asked, "what could this be but habitual inclinations and dispositions unto whatsoever was holy and good, insomuch as all holiness radically dwelt in him" (page 202). So too Charnock: "The righteousness of the first man evidenced not only a sovereign power, as the Donor of his being, but a holy power, as the pattern of His work. . . .The law of love to God, with his whole soul, his whole mind, his whole heart and strength, was originally writ upon his nature. All the parts of his nature were framed in a moral conformity with God, to answer His Law and imitate God in His purity" (vol. 2, page 205).

In his Discourse on the Holy Spirit (chapter 4, His "Peculiar works in the first creation"), when treating of "the image of God" after which Adam was created (namely, "an ability to discern the mind and will of God," an "unentangled disposition to every duty" and "a readiness of compliance in his affections"),J. Owen said, "For in the restoration of these abilities unto our minds in our renovation unto the image of God in the Gospel, it is plainly asserted that the Holy Spirit is the imparter of them, and He doth thereby restore His own work. For in the new creation the Father, in the way of authority, designs it and brings all things unto a head in Christ (Eph_1:10), which retrieves His original work. And thus Adam may be said to have had the Spirit of God in his innocency: he had Him in those peculiar effects of His power and goodness, and he had Him according to the tenor of that covenant whereby it was possible that he should utterly lose Him, as accordingly it came to pass." The superiority of the new covenant lies in its gifts being unforfeitable, because secured in and by Christ.

"God made man upright" (Ecc_7:29)—the same Hebrew word as in Job_1:8, and Psa_25:8: "This presupposes a law to which he was conformed in his creation, as when anything is made regular or according to rule, of necessity the rule itself is presupposed. Whence we may gather that this law was no other than the eternal indispensable law of righteousness, observed in all points by the second Adam. . . . In a word, this law is the very same which was afterwards summed up in the Ten Commandments . . .called by us the Moral Law, and man’s righteousness consisted in conformity to this law or rule" (Thomas Boston, Human Nature in its Fourfold State). "When God created man at first, He gave him not an outward law, written in letters or delivered in words, but an inward law put into his heart and concreated with him, and wrought in the frame of his soul . . .spiritual dispositions and inclinations, in his will and affections, carrying him on to pray, love God and fear Him, to seek His glory in a spiritual and holy manner" (Goodwin). The external command of Gen_2:17, was designed as the test of his responsibility, and at the same time it served to make manifest that his "uprightness" was mutable.

When Adam left the Creator’s hand the law of God was in his heart, for he was endowed with holy instincts and inclinations, which tended unto his doing that which was pleasing unto God and an antipathy against whatever was displeasing to Him. That "law of God" within him was his original character or constitution of his soul and spirit—as it is the "law" or character of beasts to care for their young and of birds to build nests for theirs. Should it be asked, Is there any other Scripture which teaches that God placed His law in the heart of unfallen Adam? we answer, Yes, by clear and necessary implication. Christ declared "Thy Law is within My heart" (Psa_40:8), and Rom_5:14, tells us that Adam was "the figure of Him that was to come." Again, just as we may ascertain what grain a certain field bore from the stubble in it, so we may discover what was in unfallen man by the ruins of what is still discernible in fallen humanity: "the Gentiles do by nature the things contained in the Law" (Rom_2:14)—their consciences informing them that immorality and murder are crimes: there is still a shadow in his descendants of the character originally possessed by Adam.

But Adam did not continue as God created him. He fell, and terrible were the consequences. But it is only by adhering closely to the terms used in the Word that we can rightly apprehend the nature of those consequences; yea, unless we allow Scripture itself to interpret those terms for us, we are certain to err in our understanding of them. Possibly the reader is ready to exclaim, There is no need to make any mystery out of it: the matter is quite simple—those consequences may all be summed up in one word—"death." Even so, we must carefully inquire what is meant there by "death." "Spiritual death," you answer. True, and observe well that presupposes spiritual life, and that in turn implies a spiritual person, for surely one endowed with spiritual life must be so designated. However, our inquiry must be pressed back a stage farther, and the question put, Exactly what is connoted by "spiritual death"? It is at this point so many have gone wrong and, departing from the teaching of Holy Writ, have landed in serious error.

It is to be most carefully noted that God did not say to Adam, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thy spirit or thy soul shall surely die," but rather "thou shalt surely die" (Gen_2:17). It was not some thing in or some part of Adam which died, but Adam himself! That is very, very far from being a distinction without any difference: it is a real and radical difference, and if we tamper with Scripture and change what it says, we depart from the Truth. Nor is "death" an extinction or annihilation; instead, it is a separation. Physical death is the severance or separation of the soul from the body, and spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God. The prodigal son was "dead" so long as he remained in "the far country" (Luk_15:24), because away from his Father. 1 Timothy 5:6, tells us, "she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth"; that is, she is spiritually dead, dead Godwards, while alive and active in sin. For the same reason, "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" is called "the Second Death" (Rev_21:8), because those cast into it are "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2Th_1:9).

Man was created a tripartite being, composed of "spirit and soul and body" (1Th_5:23). That is unmistakably implied in the Divine account of his creation: "God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness" (Gen_1:26); the Triune God made man a trinity in unity! And when man fell, he continued to be a tripartite being: no part of his being was extinguished, no faculty was lost when he apostatized from God. It cannot be insisted upon too strongly that no essential element of man’s original constitution was forfeited, no component part of his complex make-up was annihilated at the Fall, for multitudes are seeking to hide behind a misconception at this very point. They would fain believe that man lost some vital part of his nature when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, and that it is the absence of this part in his descendants which explains (and excuses!) all their failures. They console themselves that they are more to be pitied than blamed: the blame rests on their first parents, and they, forsooth, are to be pitied because he deprived them of the faculty of working righteousness. Much preaching encourages that very delusion.

The truth is that fallen man today possesses identically the same faculties as those with which Adam was originally created, and his accountability lies in his making good use of those faculties, and his criminality consists in the evil employment of them. Others seek to evade the onus of man by affirming that he received a nature which he did not possess before the Fall, and all the blame for his lawless actions is thrown upon that evil nature: equally erroneous and equally vain is such a subterfuge. No material addition was made to man’s being at the Fall, any more than some intrinsic part was taken from it. That which man lost at the Fall was his primitive holiness, and that which then entered into his being was sin, and sin has defiled every part of his person; but for that we are to be blamed and not pitied. Nor has fallen man become so helplessly the victim of sin that his accountability is cancelled; rather does God hold him responsible to resist and reject every inclination unto evil, and will justly punish him because he fails to do so. Every attempt to negative human responsibility and undermine the sinner’s accountability, no matter by whom made, must be steadfastly resisted by us.

It is by persuading men that the spirit died at the Fall, or that some concrete but evil thing was then communicated to the human constitution, that Satan succeeds in deceiving so many of his victims: and it is the bounden duty of the Christian minister to expose his sophistries, drive the ungodly out of their refuge of lies, and press continually upon them the solemn fact that they are without the vestige of an excuse for their own rebellion against God. In the day of his disobedience Adam himself died, died spiritually, and so did all his posterity in him. But that spiritual death consisted not of the extinction of anything in them, but of their separation from God: no part of Adam’s being was annihilated, but every part of him was vitiated. It was not the essence but the rectitude of man’s soul and spirit which sin destroyed. By the Fall man relinquished his honour and glory, lost his holiness, forfeited the favour of God, and was severed from all communion with Him; but he still retained his human nature. All desire Godwards, all love for his Maker, all real knowledge of Him was gone. Sin now possessed him, and to the love and exercise of it he devoted himself. Such too is our natural condition.

Let none conclude from the last few paragraphs that we do not believe in the "total depravity" of man, or that we do so in such a manner as practically to evacuate that expression of any real meaning. Most probably the writer believes more firmly in the utter ruin of fallen human nature than do some of his readers, and views the plight of the natural man as being more desperate than they do. We hold that the state of every unregenerate soul is such that he cannot turn his face Godward or originate a single spiritual thought, and that he has not even so much as the wish or will to do so. Nor let it be inferred from our preceding remarks that we deny the evil principle or "the flesh" as being existent and dominant in the natural man: we most emphatically believe—both on the testimony of the Word of Truth and from personal experience of its awful potency and horrible workings—that it is. But we also hold that great care should be taken when seeking to visualize or define in our minds what "the flesh" consists of. It is a principle of evil and not a concrete or tangible entity. The moment we regard it as something material, we confuse ourselves.

It is because all of us are so accustomed to thinking in the terms of matter that we find it difficult to form a definite concept of something which though immaterial is real. Nor is it by any means a simple task for one to express himself thereon so that he will be coherent unto others. Man lost no part of his tripartite nature when he fell, nor was a fourth part then communicated to him. Instead, sin—which is not a material entity—entered into him, and vitiated and corrupted his entire being. He was stricken with a loathsome disease which defiled all his faculties and members, so that his entire spirit and soul became precisely like one whose body is thus described: "From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores" (Isa_1:5). A potato is still a potato even when frozen, though it is no longer edible. An apple remains an apple when decayed within. And man still retained his human nature when he apostatized from God, died spiritually, and became totally depraved. He remained all that he was previously minus only his holiness.

When man fell he died spiritually and, as we have shown, death is not annihilation, but separation. Yet that word "separation" does not express the full meaning of what is signified by "spiritual death." Scripture employs another term—"alienation," and that too we must take fully into account. "Alienation" includes the thought of severance, but it also imparts an opposition. A dear friend may be separated from me physically, but a cruel enemy is bitterly antagonistic to me. Thus it is with fallen man: he is not only cut off from all communion with the Holy One, but he is innately and inveterately hostile to Him—"alienated" in his affections. We are not here striving about mere "words," but calling attention to a most solemn truth and fact. It is thus that the Scripture depicts the condition of fallen mankind: "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart" (Eph. 4:18); yea, it solemnly declares that "the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom_8:7), and "enmity" is not a negative and passive thing, but a positive and active one.

"Dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph_2:1) is the fearful diagnosis made of fallen man by the Divine Physician. Yet though that language be true to fact and is no exaggeration, still it is a figure, and unless we interpret it in strict accord with Scripture, we shall falsify its meaning. It is often said that the spiritual state of the natural man is analogous to that of a corpse buried in the cemetery. From one standpoint that is correct; from another it is utterly erroneous. The natural man is a putrefying creature, a stench in the nostrils of the Holy One, and he can no more perform a spiritual act Godwards than a corpse can perform a physical act manwards. But there the analogy ends! There is a contrast between the two cases as well as a resemblance. A corpse has no responsibility, but the natural man has! A corpse can perform no actions; different far is the case of the sinner. He is- active, active against God! Though he does not love Him (and he ought!), yet he is filled with enmity and hatred against Him. Thus spiritual death is not a state of passivity and inactivity, but one of aggressive hostility against God.

Here then, as everywhere, there is a balance to be preserved; yet it is rarely maintained. Far too many Calvinists, in their zeal to repudiate the free-willism of Arminians, have at the same time repudiated man’s moral agency; anxious to enforce the utter helplessness of fallen men in spiritual matters, they have virtually reduced him to an irresponsible machine. It has not been sufficiently noted that in the very next verse after the statement "who were dead in trespasses and sins," the apostle added, "Wherein (i.e. that state of spiritual death) ye walked (which a corpse in the grave could not!) according to the course of this world, according to the spirit of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation ("conduct") in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (Eph_2:1-3). So that in one sense they were dead (i.e. Godward) while they lived (i.e. in sin), and in another sense they lived (a life of self-seeking and of enmity against God), while dead to all spiritual things.

By the Fall man both lost something and acquired something. Term that something a "nature" if you will, so long as you do not conceive of it as something material. That which man lost was holiness, and that which he acquired was sin, and neither the one nor the other is a substance, but rather a moral quality. A "nature" is not a concrete entity, but instead that which characterizes and impels an entity or creature. It is the "nature" of gravitation to attract; it is the nature of fire to burn. A "nature" is not a tangible thing, but a power impelling to action, a dominating influence—an "instinct" for want of a better term. Strictly speaking a "nature" is that which we have by our origin, as our partaking of human nature distinguishes us from the celestial creatures who are partakers of angelic nature. Thus we speak of a lion’s "nature" (ferocity), a vulture’s nature (to feed on carrion), a lamb’s nature (gentleness). A "nature," then, describes more what a creature is by birth and disposition, and therefore we prefer to speak of holiness or imparted grace as a "principle of good," and indwelling sin or "the flesh" as a principle of evil—a prevalent disposition which moves its subjects to ever act in accord with its distinguishing quality.

If it be kept in mind that, strictly speaking, a "nature" is that which we have by our origin, as partaking of human nature distinguishes us from the celestial creatures on the one hand and from the beasts of the field (with their animal nature) on the other, much confusion of thought will be avoided. Furthermore, if we distinguish carefully between what our nature intrinsically consists of and what it "accidentally" (non-essentially) became and becomes by virtue of the changes passing upon it at the fall and at regeneration, then we should have less difficulty in understanding what is signified by the Lord’s assuming our nature. When the Son of God became incarnate He took unto Himself human nature. He was, in every respect, true Man, possessed of spirit (Luk_23:46), soul (Joh_12:27), and body (Joh_19:40): "in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren" (Heb_2:17)—otherwise He could not be their Surety and Mediator. This does not explain the miracle and mystery of the Divine incarnation, for that is incomprehensible, but it states the fundamental fact of it. Christ did not inherit our corruption, for that was no essential part of manhood! He was born and ever remained immaculately pure and holy; nevertheless, He took upon Him our nature intrinsically considered, but not as it had been defiled by sin; and therefore is denominated "the son of Adam" (Luk_3:38).

When, then, we say that by the fall man became possessed of a "sinful nature" it must not be understood that something comparable to his spirit or soul was added to his being, but instead that a principle of evil entered into him, which defiled every part of his being, as frost entering into fruit ruins it. Instead of his faculties now being influenced and regulated by holiness, they became defiled and dominated by sin. Instead of spiritual propensities and properties actuating his conduct, a carnal disposition became the law of his being. The objects and things man formerly loved, he now hated; and those which he was fitted to hate, he now desires. Therein lies both his depravity and his criminality. God holds fallen man responsible to mortify every inclination unto evil, to resist and reject every solicitation unto sin, and will justly punish him because he fails to do so. Nay more, God requires him and holds him accountable to love Him with all his heart and to employ each of his faculties in serving and glorifying Him: his failure so to do consists solely in a voluntary refusal, and for that He will righteously judge him.

Now the miracle of grace is God’s answer to man’s ruination of himself, His begun reversal of what happened to him at the Fall. Let us now establish that fact from the Scriptures and show this concept is no invention of ours. The very fact that Christ is denominated "the last Adam" implies that He came to right the wrong wrought by the first Adam—though only so far as God’s elect are concerned. Hence we find Him saying by the Spirit of prophecy, "I restored that which I took not away" (Psa_69:4). A lengthy section might well be written on those comprehensive words: suffice it now to say that He recovered both unto God and His people what had been lost by Adam’s defection—to the One His manifestative honour and glory; to the other, the Holy Spirit and holiness in their hearts. What Christ did for His people is the meritorious ground of what the Spirit works in them, and at regeneration they begin to be restored to their pristine purity or brought back to their original state. Therefore it is that the great change is spoken of as the "renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5), that is, a renovating and restoring of spiritual life to the soul.

"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him" (Col_3:9). Those to whom the apostle was writing had, by their profession and practice, "put off" or renounced "the old man," and by lip and life had avowed and exhibited the new. That new man is here said to be "renewed in knowledge," which cannot be the obtaining of a knowledge which man never had previously but rather the recovery and restoration of that spiritual knowledge of God which he had originally. That is confirmed by what follows: "after the image of Him that created him," i.e. at the beginning. Man was originally made "in the image of God" (Gen_1:27), which imported at least three things. First, he was constituted a tripartite being by the Triune God; and this he continued to be after the Fall. Second, he was created in His natural image, being made a moral agent, endowed with rationality and freedom of will; this too he retained. Third, God’s moral image, being "made upright," endued "with righteousness and true holiness"; which was lost when man became a sinner, but is restored to him by the miracle of grace.

That which takes place in the elect at regeneration is the reversing of the effects of the Fall. The one born again is, through Christ, and by the Spirit’s operations, restored to union and communion with God (1Pe_3:18). The one who previously was spiritually dead, alienated from God, is now spiritually alive, reconciled to God. Just as spiritual death was brought about by the entrance into man’s being of a principle of evil, which darkened his understanding and hardened his heart (Eph_4:18), so spiritual life is the introduction of a principle of holiness into man’s soul, which enlightens his understanding and softens his heart. God communicates a new principle, one which is as real and potent unto good as indwelling sin is unto evil. Grace is now imparted, a holy disposition is wrought in the soul, a new temper of spirit is bestowed upon the inner man. But no new faculties are communicated unto him: rather are his original faculties (in measure) purified, enriched, elevated, empowered. Just as man did not become less than a threefold being when he fell, neither does he become more than a threefold being when he is renewed. Nor will he in heaven itself: his spirit and soul and body will then be glorified—completely purged from every taint of sin, and perfectly conformed unto the image of God’s Son.

But is not a "new nature" received by us when we are born again? If that term (in preference to "another principle") be admitted and used, we must be careful lest we carnalize our conception of what is connoted by that expression. Much confusion has been caused at this point through failure to recognize that it is a person, and not merely a "nature," who is born of the Spirit: "he is born of God" (1Jn_3:9). The selfsame person who was spiritually dead Godwards (separated and alienated from Him) is now spiritually alive Godwards—reconciled and brought back into union and communion with Him. The same person whose entire being (and not merely some part of him!) was dead in trespasses and sins, wherein he walked according to the course of this world, according to the evil spirit who worketh in the children of disobedience, fulfilling the lusts of the flesh; his entire being is now alive in holiness and righteousness, and he walks according to the course of God’s Word, according to the power and promptings of the Holy Spirit, who worketh in the children of obedience, moving them to fulfil the dispositions and develop the graces of the spirit or "new nature."

This must be so, or otherwise there would be no preservation of the identity of the individual: we repeat, it is the individual himself who is born again, and not merely something in him. The person of the regenerate is constitutionally the same as the person of the unregenerate, each having a spirit and soul and body. But just as in fallen man there is also a principle of evil which has corrupted each part of his threefold being — which principle may be styled his "sinful nature" (if by that be meant his evil disposition and character), as it is the "nature" of swine to be filthy; so when a person is born again another and new principle is introduced into his being, which may be styled a "new nature," if by it be meant a disposition which propels him in a new direction—Godwards. Thus, in both cases, "nature" is a moral principle rather than a tangible entity. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit"—spiritual and not material, and must not be regarded as something substantial, distinct from the soul of the regenerate, like one part of matter added to another; rather is it that which spiritualizes his inward faculties as the "flesh" had carnalized them.

When treating of regeneration under the figure of the new birth some writers (ourselves included in earlier days) have introduced analogies from natural birth which Scripture by no means warrants, and which, by its employment of other figures it disallows. Physical birth is the bringing forth into this world of a creature, a complete personality which before conception had no existence whatever. But the one regenerated by God had a complete personality before he was born again! To that statement it may be objected, Not a spiritual personality. True, but keep steadily in mind that spirit and matter are opposites, and we only confuse ourselves if we think or speak of that which is "spiritual" as being something concrete. Regeneration is not the creating of a person who hitherto had no existence, but the spiritualizing of one who had—the renewing and renovating of one whom sin had unfitted for communion with God, and this by the imparting to him of a principle, or "nature," or life, which gives a new and different bias to all his faculties. Ever beware of regarding the Christian as made up of two distinct personalities. A century ago a booklet was published in England purporting to prove that "A child of God cannot backslide," and many in a reputedly orthodox circle were evilly affected by it. Its author argued "a regenerated man possesses two natures: an old man of sin, and a new man of grace; that the old man of sin never made any progress in the Divine life nor ever can, consequently he can never go back or imbibe the least taint or particle of sin. How then can the child of God backslide?" A reviewer exposed this sophistry by mentioning a Papist in Germany who was a royal bishop that was very fond of hunting, and who was friendly admonished of the inconsistency of the chase with the mitre. His reply was, "I do not hunt as bishop, but as prince," to which it was answered, "If the prince should break his neck while a-hunting and went to hell, what would become of the bishop!" That was answering a fool according to his folly!

The "old man" and the "new man" indwell and belong to the same individual, and can no more be divorced from his person than the bishop could be separated from the prince. It is not merely something in the Christian but the Christian himself who backslides. What we have called attention to above is but the corollary, a carrying out to its logical conclusion of another error, equally mischievous and reprehensible, though not so fully developed, namely, wherein the "two natures" in the believer are made so prominent and dominant that the person possessing them is largely lost sight of and his responsibility repudiated. Thus, it is just as much an idle quibble to reason that neither "the flesh" or old nature, nor "the spirit" or new nature, is capable of backsliding. It is the person possessing those two natures (or principles) who backslides, and for that God holds him accountable and chastens him accordingly. Unless believers are much on their guard, they will eagerly snatch at any line of teaching which undermines their accountability and causes them to slur over the exceeding sinfulness of their sins, by finding a pretext for supposing they are more to be pitied than blamed.

The youth differs much from the infant, and the adult from the immature youth; nevertheless, it is the same individual, the same human person, who passes through those stages. Human beings we are; moral agents, responsible creatures we shall ever remain, no matter what be the precise nature of the internal change we experienced at regeneration (nor how the character of that experience be defined or expressed), or whatever change awaits the body at resurrection: we shall never lose our essential personality or identity as God created us at the first. Let that be clearly understood and firmly grasped: we remain the same persons all through our history. Neither the deprivation of spiritual life at the Fall, nor the communication of spiritual life at the new birth, affects the reality of our being in possession of human nature. By the Fall we did not become less than men; by regeneration we do not become more than men—though our relation to God is altered. That which essentially constitutes our manhood was not lost, and no matter what be imparted to us at regeneration, our individuality and personal identity as a responsible being remains unchanged. We will now endeavour to summarize all that has been set before the reader concerning the great change which takes place in one who is born again, renewed spiritually, resurrected, by the operations of the Spirit of God. Perhaps this can best be accomplished by making some epitomized statements and then offering some further remarks on those against which certain of our readers may be most inclined to take issue. Negatively, that great change does not consist of any constitutional alteration in the make-up of our being, no essential addition being made to our persons. We regard it as a serious mistake to consider the natural man as possessed of but soul and body, and as only having a "spirit" communicated to him when he is regenerated. Again, it is a still worse error to suppose that indwelling sin is eradicated from the being of a born-again person: not only does Scripture contain no warrant to countenance such an idea, but the uniform experience of God’s children repudiates it. Nor does the great change effect any improvement in the evil principle. The "flesh," with its vile properties and lusts, its deceiving and debasing inclinations, its power to promote hypocrisy, pride, unbelief, opposition unto God, remains unchanged unto the end of our earthly course.

Yet it would be utterly wrong for us to conclude from those negatives that regeneration is not entitled to be designated a "miracle of grace" or that the change effected in its subject is far from being a great one. A real, a radical, a stupendous, a glorious change is wrought, yet the precise nature of it can only be discovered in the light of Holy Writ. While it is indeed an experimental change, yet the subject of it must interpret it by the teaching of Scripture, and not by either his own reason or feelings. Nor should that statement be either surprising or disappointing. The miracle of grace effects a great change Godwards in the one who experiences it, and God is not an Object of sense nor can He be known by any process of reasoning. We may then summarize by saying the great change, positively considered, consists first of a radical change of heart Godwards. God discovers Himself unto the soul, makes Himself a living reality unto it, reveals Himself both as holy and gracious, clothed with authority and yet full of mercy. That personal and powerful revelation of God unto the soul produces an altered disposition and attitude toward Him: the one alienated is reconciled, the one who shrank from and was filled with enmity against Him, now desires His presence and longs for communion with Him.

Such a vital and radical change in the disposition and attitude of a soul Godwards is indeed a miracle of grace, and cannot be described as anything less than a great change. It is as real and great as was the change when man apostatized from his Maker, as vivid and blessed a change spiritually as the resurrection will effect physically: when that which was sown in corruption, in dishonor, in weakness, shall be raised in incorruption, glory and power; when our vile body shall be changed, "that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Php_3:21). For one who was a total stranger to the ineffably glorious God to now become experimentally and savingly acquainted with Him, for one who sought to banish Him from his thoughts to now find his greatest delight in meditating upon His perfections, for one who lived in total disregard of His righteous claims upon him to be made a loyal and loving subject, is a transformation which human language—with all its adjectives and superlatives—cannot possibly do justice unto. In the words of Divine inspiration, it is a ‘‘passing from death unto life,’’ a being ‘‘called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light," a being "created in Christ Jesus unto good works."

Second, that great change consists in a moral purification of the inner man. Though this be the most difficult aspect of it for us to understand, yet the teaching of the Word thereon is too clear and full to leave us in any uncertainty as to its truth. Such expressions as "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you" (Ezek. 36:25), "but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified" (1Co_6:11), "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the Truth" (1Pe_1:22) would be meaningless if there had been no internal transformation. Our characters are formed by the Truth we receive: our thoughts are more or less molded, our affections directed, and our wills regulated by what we heartily believe. Truth has a vital, effectual, elevating influence. Any man who professes to take the Word of God for his Guide and Rule and is not altered by it, both internally and externally, is deceiving himself. ‘The Truth will make you free" (Joh_8:32): from the dominion of sin, from the snares of Satan, from the deceits of the world. The tastes, the aims, the ways of a Christian are assimilated to and fashioned by the Word.

A radical change Godwards which is accompanied by a moral purification within, necessarily consists, in the third place, of a thoroughly altered attitude toward the Divine Law. It cannot be otherwise. "The carnal mind is enmity against God"; it is completely dominated by ill will unto Him. The evidence adduced by the Spirit in demonstration of that fearful indictment is this, "and is not subject unto the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom_8:7): the one is the certain outcome of the other—hatred for the Lawgiver expresses itself in contempt for and defiance of His Law. Before there can be any genuine respect for and subjection to the Divine Law the heart’s attitude towards its Governor and Administrator must be completely changed. Conversely, when the heart of any one has been won unto God, His authority will be owned, His government honored, and his sincere language will be, "I delight in the Law of God after the inward man"—i.e. the soul as renewed by the Spirit (Rom. 7:22). Thus, while the unregenerate are denominated "the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2) the regenerate are called "obedient children" (1Pe_1:14), for obedience is one of their characteristic marks, evidencing as it does the general tenor and course of their lives.

After all that has been said, it ought not to be necessary for us to interrupt our train of thought at this point and consider a question which can only prove wearisome unto the well-taught reader; but others who have drunk so deeply from the foul pools of error need a word thereon. Are there not two "minds" in a born-again person: the one carnal and the other spiritual? Certainly not, or he would have a dual personality, and a divided responsibility. By nature his mind was, spiritually speaking, deranged—how else can a mind which is "enmity against God" be described? But by grace his mind has been restored to sanity: illustrated by the demoniac healed by Christ, "sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind" (Mar_5:15); or as 2Ti_1:7, expresses it, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." It is true his original carnality ("the flesh") still remains, ever seeking to regain complete control of his mind; but Divine grace suffers it not to so succeed that his mind ever becomes "enmity against God." There will be risings of rebellion against His providences, but a renewed person will nevermore hate God.

A real and radical change of heart Godwards will, in the fourth place, be marked by a thoroughly altered attitude towards sin. And again we say, it cannot be otherwise. Sin is that "abominable thing" which God "hates" (Jer_44:4), and therefore that heart in which the love of God is shed abroad will hate it too. Sin is "the transgression of the Law" (1Jn_3:4), and therefore each one who has been brought to "delight in the Law" will detest sin and earnestly seek to resist its solicitations. That which formerly was his native element has become repugnant to his spiritual inclinations. Sin is now his heaviest burden and acutest grief. Whereas the giddy worldling craves after its pleasures and the covetous seek after its riches, the deepest longing of the renewed soul is to be completely rid of the horrible activities of indwelling sin. He has already been delivered from its reigning power, for God has dethroned it from its former dominion over the heart, but it still rages within him, frequently gets the better of him, causes him many a groan, and makes him look forward with eager longing to the time when he shall be delivered from its polluting presence.

Another important and integral part of the great change consists in the soul’s deliverance from the toils of Satan. Where the heart has really undergone a radical change of disposition and attitude toward God, toward His Law, and toward sin, the great Enemy has lost his hold on that person. The Devil’s power over mankind lies in his keeping them in ignorance of the true God, in the scorning of His Law, in holding them in love with sin; and hence it is that he "hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ. . . should shine unto them" (2Co_1:1). While God permits him to succeed therein, men are his captives, his slaves, his prisoners, held fast by the cords of their lusts. But it was announced of the coming Saviour that He would "proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Isa_61:1). Accordingly when He appeared we are told that He not only healed the sick, but also "all that were oppressed of the Devil" (Act_10:38). The regenerate have been delivered "from the power of Satan" (Act_26:18; Col_1:13) and made "the Lord’s free men." True, he is still suffered to harass and tempt them from without, but cannot succeed without their consent; and if they steadfastly resist him, he flees from them.

In those five aspects of the great change we may perceive the begun reversal of what took place at man’s apostasy from God. What were the leading elements in the Fall? No doubt they can be expressed in a variety of ways, but do they not consist, essentially, of these? First, in giving ear unto Satan and heed to the senses of the body, instead of to the Word of God. It was in parleying with the Serpent that Eve came under his power. Second, in preferring the pleasures of sin (the forbidden fruit which now made such a powerful appeal to her affection—Gen_3:6) rather than communion with her holy Maker. Third, in transgressing God’s Law by an act of deliberate disobedience (Rom_5:19). Fourth, in the loss of their primitive purity: "and the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig-leaves together and made them aprons" (Gen_3:7). Their physical eyes were open previously (!) but now they had a discovery of the consequences of their sin: a guilty sense of shame crept over their souls, their innocence was gone, they perceived what a miserable plight they were now in—stripped of their original righteousness, condemned by their own conscience.

Fifth, in becoming alienated from God: "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Gen_3:8). And what was their response? Did they rejoice at His gracious condescension in thus paying them a visit? Did they welcome their opportunity to cast themselves upon His mercy? Or did they even fall down before Him in brokenhearted confession of their excuseless offence: Far otherwise. When the Serpent spoke, Eve promptly gave ear to and conferred with him; but now that the voice of the Lord God was audible, she and her guilty partner fled from Him. "Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden." A guilty conscience warned them that it was the approach of that Judge whose Law they had broken, and they were terror-stricken at the prospect of having a face-to-face meeting with the One against whom they had rebelled. They dared not look upon Holiness incarnate, and therefore sought to escape from His presence. Thereby they evidenced they had died spiritually—their hearts being separated and alienated from Him! Their understanding was "darkened" and their hearts in a condition of "blindness" (Eph_4:18); a. spirit of madness now possessed them, as appears in their vain attempt to hide among the trees from the eyes of Omniscience.

Those then were the essential elements the Fall, or the several steps in man’s departure from God. A parleying with and coming under the power of the Devil, sin’s being made attractive in their sight, inclining unto the act of disobedience, resulting in the loss of their primitive purity and their consequent alienation from God. The attentive reader will observe those things are in the inverse order of those mentioned above as constituting the five leading characteristics of the great change wrought in those who are the favored subjects of the miracle of grace. Nor is the reason for that far to seek: conversion is a turning round, a right-about face, a being restored to a proper relation and attitude toward God. Let us employ a simple illustration. If I journey five miles from a place and then determine to return to it, must I not re-traverse the fifth mile before coming to the fourth, and tread again the fourth before I arrive at the third, and so on until I reach the original point from which I departed? Was it not thus with the ragged and famished prodigal, who had journeyed into the far country: he must return unto the Father’s House if he would obtain food and clothing.

If the great change be the reversing of what occurred at the Fall, then the order of its constituents should necessarily be viewed inversely. First, being restored to our original relation unto God, which was one of spiritual union and communion with Him. That is made possible and actual by the renewing us after His image, which consists of "righteousness and true holiness," a saving and experimental knowledge of His ineffable perfections; or in other words, by the renovation and moral purification of our souls, for it is only the "pure in heart" (Mat_5:8) who see God as He actually is—our rightful Lord, our everlasting Portion. Only then does the Divine Law have its due and true place in our hearts: its authority being owned, its spirituality esteemed, the fulfilling of its holy and just requirements being our sincere and resolute aim. Obviously it cannot be until we have a right attitude toward God, until our hearts truly love Him, until after His Law becomes the rule and director of our lives, that we can perceive the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and consequently loathe, resist and mourn over it. And just so far as that be the case with us, are we morally delivered from the power of Satan: while the heart beats true to God the solicitations of His enemy will be repellent to us rather than attractive.

But let us point out once more that this great change is not completed by a single act of the Spirit upon or within the soul, but occurs in distinct stages: it is commenced at regeneration, continues throughout the whole process of our experimental sanctification, and is only consummated at our glorification. Thus, regeneration is only the begun reversing of what occurred at the Fall. The very fact that regeneration is spoken of as a Divine begetting and birth at once intimates there is there only the beginning of the spiritual life in the soul, and that there is need for the growth and development of spiritual life in the soul, and that there is need for the growth and development of the same. "He which hath begun a good work in you will finish it" (Php_1:6) is the plain declaration and blessed assurance of what is implied by the "birth," and such statements as "the inward man is renewed day by day" (2Co_4:16) and our being "changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2Co_3:18) tell us something of the Divine operations within the souls of the regenerate while the great change is continued and brought, little by little, unto completion. That miracle of grace which was begun at regeneration is gradually carried forward in us by the process of sanctification, which appears in our growth in grace or the development of our graces.

If the reader desires a more detailed analysis and description of what that process consists of, how the great change is carried forward in us by sanctification, we may delineate it thus. First, by the illumination of the understanding which enables the believer to grow "in the knowledge of the Lord" and gives him a clearer and fuller perception of His will. Second, by the elevation and refining of the affections, the Spirit drawing them forth unto things above, fixing them on holy objects, assimilating the heart thereto. Third, by the emancipation of the will, God working in the soul "both to will and to do of His good pleasure," giving us both the desire and the power to concur with Him, for He deals with us not as mere automatons but ever as moral agents. Thus it is our responsibility to seek illumination, to prayerfully study His Word for the same, to occupy our minds (by constant meditation) and exercise our hearts with spiritual objects, and to diligently seek his enablement to avoid everything which would hinder and use all the means appointed for the promotion of our spiritual growth. As we do so, that process will issue and appear, fourth, in the rectification of our life.

From what has just been pointed out it plainly appears that they err greatly who suppose that regeneration consists of nothing more than the communication of a new nature or principle to an individual, leaving everything else in him just as it was before. It is the person himself who is regenerated, his whole soul which is renewed, so that all its faculties and powers are renovated and enriched thereby. How can everything else in him be unchanged, how otherwise can we designate the blessed transformation which the miracle of grace has wrought in him, than by styling it "a great change"—a real, radical and thorough one; since his understanding (which was previously darkened by ignorance, error and prejudice) is now spiritually enlightened, since his affections (which formerly were fixed only on the things of time and sense) are now set upon heavenly and eternal objects, and since his will (which hitherto was enslaved by sin, being "free from righteousness"—Rom_6:20) is now emancipated from its bondage, being "free from sin" (Rom_6:18). That glorious transformation, that supernatural change, is what we chiefly have in mind when we speak of "the moral purification" of the soul.